TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University women's gymnastics team closes out the regular season portion of its 2017 schedule with a pair of meets this weekend. Towson travels first to East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) foe NC State on Friday for a 7 p.m. meet. The Tigers then return home to SECU Arena on Sunday to host Senior Day with Brockport and Cornell at 2 p.m.
 
Meet Details
Friday's dual meet between Towson and NC State will take place inside Reynolds Coliseum and feature live stats. Fans can watch the meet as it is streamed on the ACC Digital Network Extra through the WatchESPN app. The video stream will require a login through a cable provider.
 
Sunday's tri-meet will serve as the Tigers' Senior Day. Towson will honor its three seniors; Bailey Gallagher, Bayleigh Fobes and Bridget Steffen, after the meet's closing awards ceremony. The meet will feature live stats and a live video stream, courtesy of Towson Sports Network. Amy Phillips and program alumna Tandy Knight '91 will have the call. Fans can also find the results of the meet on Road to Nationals.
 
Fans who wear Black and Gold to the meet to help the Tigers celebrate Senior Day can receive a special $5 ticket.
 
Last Time Out
Towson is looking to rebound after finishing fourth at Pitt's quad meet last weekend with a team score of 194.400. West Virginia won the meet with a score of 195.700, followed by Pitt (195.375) and Michigan State (194.600).
 
Towson had eight top 10 finishers at the meet and set two career highs on balance beam. Noelle Harada posted a career best of 9.800, while Erin Tucker recorded a career high of 9.725.
 
A trio of Tigers recorded top three performances. Tyra McKellar was the runner-up in the all-around (39.025) while Gabriella Yarussi placed third (38.875). Mary Elle Arduino finished third for the Tigers on balance beam (9.850).
 
Ranking among the Best
Towson ranks 42^nd on Road to National's rankings with a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 194.640. NC State has a RQS of 194.475 which ranks 44^th nationally.
 
A regional qualifying score (RQS) is used for qualification for regional competition and is based on a team's and an individual event competitor's six-best regular season meet scores, of which three must be away. To obtain the RQS, the high score is eliminated and the remaining five scores are averaged.
 
The Tigers' have an RQS of 48.860 on balance beam, which ranks 27^th on Road to National's rankings. Towson's floor exercise RQS of 48.930 is 39^th in the nation. Towson is tied for 47^th nationally with a RQS of 48.635 on uneven bars. The Tigers' RQS of 48.475 on vault ranks 54^th nationally.  
 
This season, Towson is ranked fourth among EAGL teams with its team RQS of 194.640. The Tigers rank third in the league for floor and fourth on balance beam.
 
Gabriella Yarussi has an all-around RQS of 39.085, which ranks 38^th nationally, eighth in the South East region and sixth among EAGL gymnasts. Her RQS of 9.850 on balance beam is tied for 61^st in the country, is tied for eighth among South East gymnasts and tied for fifth in EAGL. Her floor exercise RQS of 9.795 is in the top 20 among EAGL gymnasts, ranking 18^th.
 
Mary Elle Arduino is tied for 67^th nationally for balance beam with a RQS of 9.845. That RQS is tied for 10^th in the South East region and seventh among EAGL gymnasts.
 
For floor exercise, Tyra McKellar is tied for 92^nd in the country with a RQS of 9.835. She is tied for 14^th among South East gymnasts and is tied for seventh in EAGL for floor exercise. McKellar has an uneven bars RQS of 9.810, which is tied for 20^th in the South East region and tied for eighth among EAGL gymnasts. McKellar also is tied for 22^nd among South East gymnasts and ranks 18^th in EAGL with a balance beam RQS of 9.775.
 
Erin Tucker's vault RQS of 9.775 is tied for 25^th in the South East region. That is tied for 14^th among EAGL gymnasts this season.
 
Cortni Baker's RQS of 9.785 on floor exercise is ranked 20^th among EAGL gymnasts.
 
I'm Honored
Tyra McKellar picked up two weekly honors after winning the all-around title at George Washington. The junior was named EAGL Gymnast of the Week and earned NewDay USA Female Student-Athlete of the Week honors on TowsonTigers.com. McKellar posted a season-best team score of 39.250 for the all-around and set season-bests for floor exercise (9.875) and vault (9.750).
 
Gabriella Yarussi was named NewDay USA Female Student-Athlete of the Week on Jan. 10 for her performance in the Tigers' home opener. She matched her career-high with a 9.900 on balance beam to win the event title. Yarussi is one of 11 gymnasts in program history to score a 9.900 or higher on balance beam. She also competed on vault for the first time since returning from injury and finished seventh overall.
 
Up Next
Towson returns to NC State's campus for the 2017 EAGL Championships on March 18 at 2 p.m.